


Wired Together

by foppishaplomb



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Cybernetics, M/M, Minor Drugging, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Overstimulation, Possessive Behavior, Questionable Hologram Science, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 04:38:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20501018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foppishaplomb/pseuds/foppishaplomb
Summary: "I've been in your stupid little head long enough to know what you're thinking, kid. You don't get to pretend this isn't happening. There's no more running."AU where Rhys gets caught in the Helios core room.





	Wired Together

**Author's Note:**

> TftB is the only Borderlands game I've played so far (so I apologize if Jack's characterization or any lore goes against established canon), but I finished it, fell head over heels, and couldn't stop myself from immediately writing a bunch of kinky garbage porn!! Well, I intended it to be porn, anyway, and then I wrote one million pages of menacing buildup first.
> 
> AU from a timeline where Rhys rejected Hyperion, trusted Fiona instead of Jack, and acted loyal to his friends, though the latter two don't make a huge difference.

Rhys hesitated, and that was enough. Jack's guards rushed into the core room. Rhys heard them behind him and scrambled to jump onto the core itself, but the second his feet left the ground someone grabbed him by the back of his vest and yanked him back over the railing.

"No!" Rhys cried, struggling desperately to pull his metal arm out of the grip of someone much stronger than him. "You guys don't understand—Jack is—" Rhys was knocked over the head with one of their rifles, and by the time he wasn't too dazed to think anymore, they were dragging him through the halls of Helios to Jack's office.

Jack's voice was yammering on, filling up the elevator and congratulating the guards for not screwing this one up, assuring them they'd get promotions they'd never dreamed of the second Rhys was inside his office. Rhys didn't want to give Jack attention he didn't deserve, but as soon as Rhys became alert enough to struggle again, of course Jack saw. There were cameras everywhere on Helios.

"Well, well, lookie here," he said. "My dear friend Rhys is awake again. Probably for the last time, but what's another head trauma to add to the pile, eh, pumpkin? You'll be in far too much agonizing pain to care about a little brain damage in a few minutes."

Rhys tried to ignore him, focusing on trying to free himself. Jack seemed to like that about as much as he did when he was inside Rhys's brain. "Don't try and play the stoic hero, Rhysie." There was the tiniest growl to Jack's voice, and Rhys bit back a whimper. He kicked at the guard on his left, who didn't even react. Oh, Rhys was dead. He was so dead. "You're gonna die, screaming incoherently. You might as well get some last words in while you still can."

"Shut up, Jack!" Rhys felt the guards' grips on him tighten in surprise. "Y-You’re not gonna do anything to me. I'm gonna—I'm gonna get free again and kill you and then you're never gonna do anything to anyone ever again!"

Jack laughed. They were coming up on Jack's office now. Rhys could see the door. "You might be more intimidating if you could say two words without the stutter, cupcake. Pro tip from the best: people aren't usually scared if the person threatening them is a pitiful little piece of shit who's far more frightened of them than they could ever be of him."

Jack was right, and Rhys's stomach twisted in knots so tight he would've thrown up again if he had eaten, but Rhys worked hard to stay brave. "Oh, whatever. You should've stayed dead the last time, before you met me."

"Ha! Very funny, aren't you, kid? I'm gonna love hearing all your jokes while I vivisect you. Hold that thought. Give me a second to finish getting the place ready."

The guards stopped in front of Jack's door, holding Rhys as tight as ever despite how desperately he tried to get away. One of them looked down at Rhys with what Rhys wanted to pretend could be sympathy behind the helmet. "I dunno what you did, but if Handsome Jack is back, I'm sure glad I'm not you."

Rhys shot him a glare. The least the guard could do was loosen his grip if he was going to be that way. Rhys started to say something, maybe something witty and badass that would make him worth remembering before he died, but the doors whooshed open and interrupted him. Inside, Jack's face grinned down at them from the monitor, eyes locked directly on Rhys.

"Welcome home, cupcake." Rhys wanted to cry. He could feel wet heat welling up in his eyes and he shook his head as hard as he could to get rid of it. Someone in a white lab coat scampered past, and as soon as that person was gone Rhys was dragged inside. The guards' gloved hands shook a little on Rhys's arms in the presence of Handsome Jack. It was nothing compared to how Rhys himself was trembling. He felt like his cybernetics might fall out if he could shake any harder. He knew Jack saw. Rhys could see it in the way Jack's eyes raked over him.

Jack's smile quirked. "Ooh, just had a thought. This might be fun before I sit back to soak in your painful death. Hey, guards. Stand in front of the door and let him go."

The guards instantly obeyed. Even with an AI, they knew better than to hesitate around Handsome Jack. Just as quickly, Rhys whirled around to run, but the guards blocked his way and a forcefield lit up in the doorway behind them. Rhys bit his lip and turned back like it hadn't happened, but Jack was already laughing. "You really thought that would work, you idiot? I'm just glad you weren't stupid enough to bolt through the energy field and get yourself killed. I mean, you know. Before I could do it in a much more satisfying way."

"Ugh." In his peripheral vision, Rhys saw the guards inch a little further from the doorway. Rhys closed his eyes, wishing he could shut out this horrible dream. He'd wake up on the floor of the caravan where he first plugged in Nakayama's ID and got knocked out, before any of this had happened. Before Jack had come in and made Rhys's already shitty situation a thousand times worse. It hurt that he wasn't going to wake up. No matter how many times Rhys convinced himself he didn't trust Jack, a small part of him still felt betrayed.

"Smack him." Rhys jumped back to attention the second he heard Jack's voice, but it was too late. As Rhys turned to react, a guard stepped forward and hit him hard with the back of his hand. Rhys teetered over and almost fell. His back was to Jack's monitor, but another one flickered on above the doors.

"I've been in your stupid little head long enough to know what you're thinking, kid. You don't get to pretend this isn't happening. There's no more running. This is all thanks to you, and I'm gonna make sure you face every second of it."

Rhys's head pounded, but he somehow managed to keep his balance. He already hurt so much from going down the trap door. Jack was right, what was a little more pain to add to the pile? "You're so full of shit, Jack," Rhys said. "You're nothing now, okay? You're _dead, _and all that's left is a few self-important pieces of code. Hyperion doesn't need your leftovers and neither do I."

Jack tilted his head and Rhys flinched. Jack didn't order the guards to do anything, at least not yet. He just gave Rhys a look that Rhys couldn't read.

"You're completely insane, kiddo," said Jack. There was a hint of _something _to his voice, but fondness couldn't be it. "If you weren't so goddamn annoying, maybe I'd even miss it when you're dead."

Rhys was too confused to respond before Jack raised an eyebrow and the moment was gone. "Too bad that isn't going to be the case." Jack's smug voice echoed around the room, filling up every corner of the huge space. "You've got one last chance to make it easier on yourself, Rhysie. I'll still kill you, but let's say it'll be a little less painful. Hey, I might even arrange to have some anesthesia thrown your way. It's an easy job, even for you. All you have to do is bow down to the King."

Rhys stared at him, and the guards exchanged a look. Rhys turned around to stare at the bigger monitor instead, but nothing changed. Jack's face was on every side, watching expectantly from each screen.

"Well?" said Jack, something in his expression, something Rhys still infuriatingly couldn't read. It wasn't surprise. It wasn't even anger. Why did Rhys have to be the only one who was an open book? "I gave you an _order_, sweetie. Now start up your best crybaby tears and get on your fucking knees."

Rhys felt frozen. He was going to die no matter what he did, so did he really need his pride? Was it even worth it anymore? Rhys stared into Jack's eyes, searching for an answer. Something hot and bitter rose in the back of his throat. He wasn't going to do it this time. He was done being Handsome Jack's Hyperion stooge. Rhys shook his head.

"Really?" Jack laughed. "_Really? _You pick now, of all times, to have a little dignity? You're such a goddamned moron, Rhys. I'm serious. You're shitting me. You might be literally the most idiotic person I've ever met, and I've killed Psychos by the thousands. You make an art out of being a dumbass, you really do. It would be impressive if it weren't for just how incredibly, unbelievably goddamn _stupid_ you are."

Rhys took a breath, well aware that it might be the last one he ever took. "At least I'm not you."

Jack smirked. "You will be. You haven't forgotten already, have you, sweetheart? The endoskeleton is still going inside you. Even after all you've done, I'm willing to give you the honor of being the cutest, deadliest little flesh-puppet the galaxy has ever seen. I promised, didn't I? What a lucky little shit you are, huh?"

Rhys looked away. "Fuck you, Jack."

He was actively avoiding meeting Jack's expression, but Rhys could hear the annoyance in his voice. "Unbelievable. Don't say I never gave you anything. In fact, I've given you gift after gift after gift and you're _still _ungrateful. I'd say it's high time _you_ gave _me_ what I asked for, don't you think?" Rhys looked up, but it made no difference. Jack gave the guards the barest of glances. "Put him on his knees."

Rhys couldn't move before he was slammed in the gut with a rifle. He couldn't stay up this time, not with the pain already coursing through his ribs, and he collapsed to the ground, groaning. His body tried to curl up into a ball, but he was grabbed by his hair and forced up onto his knees. Rhys blinked, vision swirling, and when his eyes came back into focus he was looking directly at Jack. Rhys was in too much pain to struggle. He just went limp, until it made his hair pull worse and it snapped him out of his daze. He tried to stay upright on his own.

"Nice touch with the hair," Jack said. "I like that kind of initiative. Man, I can't wait until I can do this kinda crap with my own body again." His gaze turned back to Rhys. “You see it now, doll? Has it been pounded into your thick skull yet, or do you need to be smacked around a few more times? I can't say I don’t like seeing it, but I’m starting to get antsy for the real show. Listen up. You’re mine, kiddo. Hyperion property. Whatever I want from you, I get.”

Rhys wanted to spit at him, but it didn’t mean very much to spit at a screen. He gritted his teeth. At least he could say something cool before he died. “You’re never gonna get me to want to be you, Jack.”

Jack scoffed. “You’re breaking my heart, really you are, princess.” He looked in the direction of the chair, which was still where Rhys had left it in front of the endoskeleton’s alcove. It had been turned to face the door, and the tools weren’t out yet, but nothing else had changed. This time, Rhys didn’t think it was going to turn out the same way.

"You two goons—throw him in the chair and get the hell out. Don't worry, Rhysie. You weren't gone long, but I had a technician fix it up for you, so your scrawny little wrists can't move an inch from those armrests and get away again. Oh, and they're reinforced steel, not that I'd need much tougher than a wet paper bag to keep you in place."

“T-This is stupid," Rhys insisted. "Listen, he’s an AI, h-he can’t do anything to you! You have no reason to do this!" The guards ignored Rhys’s protests and shoved him into the chair. They held his arms down until the manacles snapped closed around them.

The second the restraints were on, Jack was already barking at them to leave. “Alright, your job is done. Get out before you're as dead as my little friend here. Can’t a guy get some privacy around this place?" Rhys shouted after the guards, but the door closed behind them before the words even finished leaving his mouth. "Eh, I'll probably still kill 'em later anyway," Jack said, over Rhys. "I don't really want to share the lovely little look of terror on your precious, stupid face.”

The chair moved on its own, suddenly twisting Rhys around to face the endoskeleton. It moved closer, until his knees were almost pressed against it. Rhys shuddered, pushing with all his strength to roll away from it. He wasn’t moving this time.

“Yeah, fixed the wheel thing, too." Jack peered down from the screens. “Almost forgot about that. I’ll give you one thing, cupcake, you’re persistent. Surprised you couldn’t irritate your way up the Hyperion ranks before I got back. Seriously, Wallethead didn’t have a clue about the particular brand of never-give-up idiocy he went and demoted.”

“Just—just shut up if you’re gonna kill me,” Rhys snapped. “J-Just go ahead and do it already, oh my god!” The saws had started whirring, the lasers were lighting up, and he was so damn _scared_. At least he’d gotten the hangar doors open for Fiona and Sasha—but he couldn’t know if they were safe, and Yvette had given him up to die, and he didn’t know what happened to Vaughn at all, and even Loader Bot and Gortys could have been blasted into space for all he knew, and damn it, Rhys had never gotten to say goodbye to any of them. “Y-you’re evil, Jack, you’re evil and insane, a-and I can’t believe I used to look up to you. At least I can say I’ve friggin’ _changed, _but _you_—you’re _always _gonna be Handsome Jack, you know that? Y-you can live inside my body, you can live inside as many bodies as you want, but you'll never be anything but a lonely asshole who doesn’t have anyone but himself!"

“Shut the fuck up already, Rhys!” Jack’s voice roared around him, blasting out of every speaker in the room. There were speakers on the chair so close to Rhys’s head he could feel the sound vibrating in his skull. “Holy shit, you never stop running your idiotic little mouth, and you tell _me _I talk too much? You stupid, pathetic little brat!” The weapons readied, and Rhys couldn’t help but turn his head away. The chair lurched, startling Rhys into looking back up. “Oh, don’t think you can turn away from this, Rhysie. I want to look you in the eye while I make sure I kill you in the worst way you can die. You think I’ve got no one, huh? You think I even care? You’re damn right I’m always going to be Handsome Jack. I came back from the goddamn dead to own your ass and everyone else’s."

“Like it matters!” Rhys’s breath shuddered with tears he couldn’t let himself shed. He yelped and wriggled out of the way when a blade almost cut open his cheek, but he didn’t care if talking made things worse. If Jack was going to steal Rhys’s body no matter what, Rhys was damn well going to try to make him feel shitty first. “Y-You think anyone cared when you died? I was here on Helios, pal, I saw. No one gave a damn about _you_. All anyone cared about was scrambling to take a bigger piece of your pie.”

One of the mechanical arms shot out and grabbed Rhys by the neck, squeezing its little claws into his flesh hard enough to pierce it. Rhys's tears finally welled over from the pain. He supposed looking cool was long out of the picture. He wasn’t going to get away. Not even Vallory and her giant rocket-launcher-toting arms could have busted out of this. Rhys struggled to focus, to hear what Jack was saying, without really knowing why he was bothering. He knew he shouldn’t give Jack that much.

“You think _I’m _alone?” The chair and the metal arm were both shaking Rhys violently, and Jack’s voice snarled in Rhys’s ear. “Where are all your friends now, then? They sure as hell aren’t trying to save you. How did all that naive loyalty work out for you, pumpkin? I talked to your con buddies myself, and they weren’t even looking for you. And what about your ‘friend’ Yvette? Heck, even your favorite sidekick Vaughn tried to sell you out to save his skin. Or did I not hear that right back when I saved your ass from digging your own grave? Did all the hits to the skull make you _forget _no one else ever gave a shit about you, Rhys, or are you just so stupid you’ll trust anyone who smiles at you?”

“No one _else?_" Rhys choked out incredulously. “Please. You—you never cared about me. Y-You used me to get to Helios.”

Jack’s eyes flashed. The claw let go, and then two of them were grabbing Rhys by his upper arms and yanking him and the chair right up to the monitors, so Rhys couldn’t see anything but the blue glow of Jack’s screen. Rhys hissed when chair’s weight pulled too much at his wrists, but he didn't look away.

“I could have given you everything you ever wanted, you stupid fuck.” Jack’s voice was low and raw. “I tried to _help _you.”

Rhys growled. “Yeah, and then you tried to steal my body, asshole!”

“Oh, I’m not trying. I’m successfully taking it. You brought that upon yourself, baby.” Jack dropped the chair, and Rhys yelped when it hit the floor hard, jolting him in his restraints. “All of this—it’s all your fault. You realize that, right? You didn’t have to take Vasquez’s deal and drag your ‘friend’ out to his death. Wallethead's too, even if no one’s mourning that guy. And you didn’t have to lead a pair of Pandoran hicks through all your misadventures to end up stranded on Helios, either. Not to mention Athena, or all the bandits you've killed—but I don’t care about any of that. I mean, let’s be honest, all the lives you’ve ruined really don’t matter to me at all."

A claw moved to grab Rhys's jaw. Jack’s eyes bored into Rhys’s. Rhys knew how bright and vibrantly colored they’d been in all the posters. His cheeks felt hot. He couldn’t believe he’d ever looked at Jack’s propaganda and noticed Jack's eye was Rhys’s favorite shade of blue.

“No, Rhysie, this is what’s worse," Jack said. "You could have trusted me. But you didn’t, did you? Instead, the pathetic little company lackey who's never managed to do a single thing that matters in his entire short, worthless life—well, he went ahead and decided he’s too good for Handsome Jack. Instead, he’d try and leave ol' Jack behind to rot. All because the little fool couldn’t trust Jack to take care of him.”

“I _did _trust you, you piece of shit!” Rhys struggled uselessly, fingers scrabbling against the armrests. The claw wrenched his head forward. “That’s the whole problem! I believed in you, and you tricked me! A-and besides, you can’t rant about how I don't trust you when you’re trying to kill me—I think that pretty conclusively proves it was the right choice!”

Jack frowned. He looked tired, as tired as he’d seemed when Rhys picked up the picture of his Angel, but a fire still burned in his monochrome eyes. “Just shut up and die, Rhys.”

All the weapons moved closer, inexorably closer, crawling forward to Rhys's inevitable end. Rhys pressed himself as far back into the chair as he could, but he remembered that Jack wanted to look him in the eye. Rhys could be brave enough to do that much, at least before the torturing started. He glared at Jack. He tried not to think about how he was strapped to an executive chair in some kind of gross facsimile of power, face wet with tears, sitting before his gruesome death without a single trick left. A blade cut into Rhys’s real arm and he shouted, wincing, but managed to maintain eye contact. It was only for a second, but Rhys saw something before his eyes shut instinctively against the pain. Jack was the one who looked away.

Rhys heard himself whimpering, and it raised into screaming as the blade cut deeper. It hurt. It hurt so _much. _Rhys's body parts had been cut up and replaced before, sure, but he’d chosen to do that; he had an operation and woke up with the tech already inside him, all the nasty stuff over and done with while Rhys was unconscious. And while he had been beaten up time and time again since he’d come to Pandora, this time, Rhys knew the pain wasn’t going to end. It was just going to keep getting worse and worse until he finally died, and he didn’t think Jack would have the kindness to let him black out. Wet blood gushed down Rhys’s arm, soaking his sleeve. He didn’t have it in him to look. He tried like mad to get away, but the blade kept tearing him open. Rhys’s throat already felt raw from crying and screaming, but he couldn’t stop. None of it would stop. All this, and all Rhys had wanted was a goddamn promotion.

Abruptly, everything went silent. The whirring saw blades, the charging lasers, the clinking weapons—it all went still.

“Ah… shit.”

It was Jack’s voice, quiet enough that Rhys wouldn’t have heard it if it weren’t coming from the speakers in the chair. The blade pulled out of Rhys’s arm, and though Rhys made an undignified noise when it yanked out of his skin, even his own screaming tapered off. The only sound in the massive room was Rhys’s soft whimpering.

After a few moments, in which Rhys braced himself for something worse to happen and nothing did, Rhys forced his ECHO eye open. His gaze darted around, moving quickly past the blade dripping with his own blood to land on Jack.

Jack was watching him. There was a kind of softness to his frown that made Rhys wonder if he was seeing things. Jack met Rhys's eye, and when Rhys dared to open the other one, Jack shook his head. He spoke, oddly gentle. “Guess you’re probably too damn puny for that endoskeleton to fit, anyway," he said.

"Wh…? What the hell does that—”

One of the metal claws moved and slammed hard into the side of Rhys’s head. His vision faded, and Rhys heard Jack’s voice murmur from the speaker by his ear. “Just go the hell to sleep, kiddo.”

Rhys was groaning before he even realized he was awake. Dull pain pulsed through his body. It wasn't as intense as before, but it sure was everywhere. He tried to move and a spike of pain shot through his arm. Rhys’s metal hand went to grab where it hurt and it stopped, caught on something. His eyelids felt heavy, but he forced them open. It took a moment for his vision to stop swimming, but when it did, a statue of Jack came into focus. Rhys found he was still in the executive chair, looking out over Jack's office.

But if that was the case, how was Rhys alive? He looked down at his hands to see they were still shackled to the chair, but he did a double take when he saw his real one. Where was all the blood? There wasn't even a stain on the chair. Rhys shifted and felt tight bandages around his arm and chest, and he was pretty sure his forehead too. Jack's desk was back in the endoskeleton’s place. None of the monitors were on.

Rhys took a shaky breath. His mouth was dry, and for some reason tasted like breath mints. He seemed to be alone.

He looked down at himself and saw he was wearing different clothes. It took him a moment to realize, but they were _his _clothes, ones Rhys had left back in his and Vaughn's old Helios apartment. Rhys was more confused than ever. It was what used to be one of Rhys’s favorite dress shirts, blue with the Hyperion logo emblazoned on the lapel. The shirt was neatly buttoned up to the dip of Rhys’s collarbone, with the top few buttons left undone. Perhaps to make it easier to slit his throat, his traitorous brain suggested. Someone had put him in a different pair of slacks, too, black and pinstriped like the ones he'd been wearing on Pandora. He tried to wheel the chair over so he could look around and felt the cold floor under his socked feet. The chair still wouldn't move, but why were his shoes gone? Was this some kind of weird, dying dream?

"What the hell is happening?" Rhys's voice came out thick and broken. It felt like it hadn't been used in days, but hadn't he just been screaming his lungs out? He looked around, scanning with his ECHO eye. No one was around. "Is… is anyone there?" he called. He coughed. "F-Fiona? Sasha? Loader Bot?"

"Aw, I'm so hurt." Rhys startled at the familiar voice too close behind him. He pushed frantically to move the chair, socks slipping on the floor to no avail. "You know they're all long gone, and you're not gonna call for me?"

"Jack!" Rhys tried to crane his head around. "W-what the hell are you playing at? What's going on?"

"Oh, kiddo. You're in luck. You have just woken up to your brand new place within the vast world of Hyperion." Rhys could hear Jack's smug grin. "A shiny new future is ahead of you, bright eyes, so you'd better rise and shine."

Rhys realized too late that Jack's voice wasn't coming from the speakers anymore. The chair swiveled around to face the massive window and, worst of all, Handsome Jack. Jack was life-size and in living color, smirking down at Rhys from in front of the planetary view. His cool eyes stared into Rhys’s, green and blue, so vivid they should've burned.

Rhys nearly jumped out of his skin. "You—your body?" he sputtered. "B-but how? Y-you said Nakayama never…" Rhys trailed off, squinting a bit. Every time Jack moved, even just to blink, his body shimmered a little. He had a yellow sheen, especially around the edges, and Rhys could just barely see the stars from the window behind peeking through him. "Another hologram," Rhys said. He swallowed. He made a quick scan of this side of the room with his ECHO eye. He couldn't find the hologram's source. "You… y-you wouldn't have come back inside my head on purpose, would you…?"

"Not exactly, cupcake_._" Jack moved closer, reaching a hand out for him, and since Rhys knew he was just a hologram, he did his best to avoid flinching. Then Jack's hand came to Rhys’s face, and Rhys stopped breathing instead. "Ever heard of hard light, sweetheart?"

Jack's hand didn't just phase through like it should have. Rhys could feel him. Calloused fingers stroked his cheek, as solid as if someone were actually touching him. If Rhys focused, he could even feel the faint beat of a pulse in Jack's fingertips. The whimper Rhys had been holding in slipped out. _Jack could touch him. _Rhys was doomed, he was so incredibly doomed, he was literally the most doomed person who'd ever set foot on this entire space station.That explained why Jack hadn't killed him. He wanted to do it with his own hands, and Rhys was sure that was going to be so, so much worse.

Rhys opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He just stared while Jack's hand cupped his jaw. Jack's skin warmed against Rhys’s, like it was real.

"I see you're confused, cupcake." Jack smiled. Even as scintillating light, his teeth were so white. "I mean, that does make sense, since I've had you knocked out for over a week, so allow me to catch you up."

"Wh—wh—wh—"

"Oh my god, are you hyperventilating? That's hilarious." Jack's hand moved, and suddenly Rhys was punched in the face with all the force of an experienced fighter. Rhys gasped, but it still felt like no air was getting into his lungs. Jack's hand twined through Rhys’s hair and grabbed it, tugging painfully at head wounds Rhys hadn't even known were there. "You see, Rhysie, I _was_ going to kill you. Really, I was. Had the whole endoskeleton set up and everything. But then, as I watched you bawling your big, puppy dog eyes out over a little pain, I realized just killing you was giving you the easy way out. I could hurt you _so_ much worse than that, in so many other ways. That's what makes me the greatest, Rhys. I'm always thinking of something better."

"I don't understand." Rhys's voice cracked. "How… how can this be happening?"

"Of course you don't, you idiot, I'm not done explaining yet." Jack's hand wrenched Rhys’s head back. It hurt, and it was impossible. Jack's eyes briefly flicked down to Rhys's exposed throat. "Let's start with your new role here at Hyperion," Jack said. "You must be excited to find out. I gave you another hit to the head, and then I had you drugged to keep you under and out of my hair for awhile. I saw your precious little face drooling adorably on the med center pillow, and I thought, gee. How can I, the great Handsome Jack, give little Rhys, the tiny company man with so many big, _big_ hopes and plans, everything he's been dreaming of for his entire worthless life? And it came to me. I know how desperately you want to be _special, _kiddo. So that's what you are now: I've given you a job no one else in this entire place could ever dream of getting."

"I-I thought I made it clear," said Rhys. "I'm not going to be your puppet president."

"Not that, dumbass," said Jack. "Your opportunity for power is long gone. In fact, your job is so special _because _your chance is so far gone. You have the distinct privilege of being the only person in the entire Hyperion family who has absolutely no power at all."

Rhys scoffed nervously. "What, you… made me an even crappier version of a janitor? I expected better from you than Vasquez, Jack."

"Oh, no," said Jack with a cold smile. "No, cupcake. You'll wish you had the janitor gig back soon enough. Hey, remember how Wallethead used to like rubbing in that you were Hyperion property? The moron thought that because he was your boss, that meant you were his, but _you_ know everyone in Hyperion is all mine. And this isn't a job you quit, though you sure tried your best." Jack let go of Rhys's hair and cupped Rhys's face with both hands. Why were his palms so rough, like it was Jack's real skin? Rhys’s own skin tingled with the contact. "But you, Rhys. Even among all these countless corporate tools of mine, you're still special. You know why? Because you're not even a tool. You're a toy. Your entire _career_ is belonging to me."

Rhys tried to pull out of Jack's hands, and got hit in the cheekbone for his trouble. That was probably going to bruise. "Ngh… what does that even mean?"

Jack went to squeeze Rhys's shoulders too hard. "It means I own you, Rhysie. Every single part of you, from your overpriced haircut to the weirdly cute socks on your feet."

"Please, are you kidding?" Rhys interrupted. He couldn't help himself. "You're a CEO. Ha, you probably used to spend more on your haircut than my entire salary. Talk about calling the kettle black." Jack punched him without missing a beat. "_Ow_, hey!"

"I'll break it down. Every bite you eat, every thought you think, every word that comes out of that constantly-babbling little mouth of yours, if you even so much as blink your eyes—it's all on my say-so. Anything I want from you, I take. You're only still breathing because you currently have my permission."

Rhys laughed, albeit somewhat nervously. "Doesn't sound that different from a normal Hyperion employee."

Jack furrowed an eyebrow. "_You _have no off-time. Period. You're going to be working solely to please me, day and night, for every second that's left of your miserable little life. And crap like choices, freedom? Get used to those being a thing of the past, kid."

"Yeah, um, not that I plan on actually going through with any of this, because I definitely don't, but what you're describing is half the company workforce," said Rhys. "That's not as scary here as you think it is."

Jack's punched the chair next to Rhys’s head, startling Rhys. "I get that there's a certain dedicated work ethic expected around here, and that's on purpose, since all you faceless drones are only as good to me as the work you do." Jack's face loomed too close to Rhys's, and he shouldn't have been able to feel Jack's body heat or his nonexistent breath, but he could. "But I want to make it as clear as possible, so even you can understand what I mean for you. This isn't hyperbole_, _pumpkin. You're not going to be working late nights coding or doing paperwork anymore, and you sure as hell aren't getting off Helios to go traipsing around pretending to be a Vault Hunter. In fact, you're probably never leaving this room ever again."

"Then what are you even using me for, genius?" Rhys's hands balled into fists. What he wouldn't do to punch Jack right in his condescending face. That he could wait for a chance to do so now was the only bright side to this situation. "Am I _decoration? _What was your grand, horrible scheme to humiliate me supposed to be?"

Jack laughed, incredulous. "Have you seriously not figured it out? I didn't think it could be more obvious."

"I don't—oh!"

Suddenly, Rhys's restraints snapped open. He scrambled to raise his fist and punch Jack before someone could stop him, but Jack grabbed Rhys by the shoulders and pulled him up first in a way he shouldn't have been able to do. He threw Rhys into the window, and Pandora shook with the impact.

"Oh, my ribs," Rhys gasped, sliding to the floor. "Ohh, that one really hurt. Ow. Okay. Okay." He took a deep breath, cringing when it passed through his ribcage. He was beginning to pull himself up when his metal arm started moving on its own. "Ohh, oh no, this isn't happening again," Rhys said. He clawed at his arm to hold it down, fighting to take back control. "Nope, no! I'm not letting it! It's just not!"

"Oh, it's happening, kiddo," said Jack. "Pretty sure we've proved by now that when I'm controlling it, your robot arm is _much _stronger than the rest of you." Rhys's fist drove itself into his stomach. Rhys groaned, and then Jack was on him, pressing Rhys into the stars, artificial glass cool against his back. Jack's "body" shouldn't have been warm and heavy, and it definitely shouldn't have a scent. It didn't make sense, but nothing about this did. Jack smelled good, even as a hologram, like something sharp and masculine, and his torso was firm and strong. Warm tendrils curled inside Rhys's belly, and as soon as he noticed he dashed the thought away. How was Jack controlling him if he wasn't in Rhys's brain anymore? Rhys raised his robot fist, and when he tried to move it, it hit Rhys instead.

"So I'm your punching bag?" Rhys grunted. "Big deal." Rhys's tender ribs were pained just from Jack's body weight on his. Jack chuckled, and somehow his breath tickled against Rhys's neck. Rhys tilted his head back for a second, pretending to fall into the endless expanse behind them, far away from whatever was going on here. Then Jack kissed Rhys's throat.

Rhys froze. The kiss wasn't wet, but it was somehow slick, and he could feel hot breath and the pressure of teeth. He cried out in pain when Jack bit down. Rhys came to his senses and writhed beneath Jack, struggling to squirm free, and he had the great misfortune of feeling Jack's erection dig into his thigh.

"What—what are you doing," Rhys said, voice breaking twice in one sentence. Jack's hands pushed their way under him to squeeze his ass. "Y-You're a hologram! How do you even _have _a sex drive? Was Nakayama such a horny bastard he went out of his way to program that?"

"Actually yeah, he probably would've, but he didn't need to," said Jack. This was a dream, this had to be a dream. Rhys couldn't feel Handsome fucking Jack's hard cock against his thigh. It was impossible. None of this could have been happening. "This AI is my whole consciousness, sweetheart. All of it. Even the darkest, most perverted parts of me, and you know what? I'm _real _kinky. And lucky, lucky you has been given the executive position of satisfying my every whim."

"What is _happening?_" Rhys squeaked, not for the first time. He shut his eyes. Jack slapped him, but Rhys didn't open them, not even when Jack slapped him again. Rhys felt his arm move and then his cold metal fingers were gliding along his collar. Rhys’s hand began to unbutton his own shirt. He could feel Jack's other hand feeling up Rhys's chest as it became exposed. Everywhere Jack touched, he raised gooseflesh. Rhys hissed when Jack's fingers dug into his bandaged ribs.

When Rhys opened his eyes, Jack's hands were burying themselves in Rhys's hair, holding Rhys still as Jack's mouth was suddenly forced against his. His mouth wasn't wet, but Rhys's was, and he swallowed as he fought to pry Jack away. Rhys didn't think Jack needed to pull away for air, but when he finally did, Rhys had been starting to get lightheaded. He was breathing hard.

"Smart of me to have your teeth brushed while you were out," Jack commented, sounding far away to Rhys. "Turns out, I can taste you, so I'm pretty glad my first moment of human contact in god-only-knows how long wasn't completely ruined by morning breath."

"Huh... ?" Rhys's teeth did still taste kind of minty, but the taste of Jack's mouth was completely overriding it. "What—why would you do that? That is extremely weird, dude!"

"I knew I'd be kissing you, you idiot. This part. _This _is the humiliation." Jack's knee pushed between Rhys's legs, splitting them apart. "You little upstart, you wouldn't believe how long I've wanted to put you back in your place."

Jack kissed Rhys again, forcing his tongue into Rhys’s mouth when Rhys tried to speak. Jack began to grind the heel of his palm over the fabric of Rhys’s pants. Rhys felt blood start to rush downward, but he refused to get hard. He wouldn't let himself. He'd think about as much baseball as he needed to, it didn't matter. Jack could control his arm and maybe even the rest of him, but damn it, he would _not_ make Rhys _hard._

"What the hell are you doing, Jack?" Rhys managed to wrench his head away enough to talk, though Jack took the opportunity to leave hot, fierce kisses along the line of Rhys's jaw. Rhys's heart pounded so wildly against his ribcage the pain started to go numb. "Y-you wanted to kill me!" Rhys insisted. "You don't even _like _me!"

"You think sex is all about _liking_ someone, cupcake?" Jack's voice was rough, almost a growl. It had something other than anger in it, though, something white-hot and possessive. A shiver went down Rhys’s spine. "You really are naive. I know I called you that before, but seriously. Could you not tell Vasquez wanted to pound your skinny ass into the ground? Are you a virgin or something?"

"Wh—wha—_no,_ and I've had sex before, you jackass, but this isn't how you do it. Nobody gets dry-humped by a _projection!_"

"Well, congratulations on finally getting that promotion, Rhysie. You get to be the first."

Rhys tried wriggle his hips out from under Jack's, and Jack sat up on his haunches and let him. He took advantage of the space between them to use his own hand while manipulating Rhys's. He used his arm, while Rhys's echoed every movement, to undo both their pants at the same time. It was ruthlessly efficient. The twinned hands took out Rhys and Jack's cocks. The air felt cold against Rhys’s flesh, as much as his metal palm did. Rhys's eyes avoided Jack's _very_ erect member to land on his own, and why, oh why was he already a little hard, too? Rhys didn't want this. He only wanted to go home, even if he didn't know where that was anymore.

Rhys's robot hand let go, and before Rhys had a moment to consider it Jack was back on him. His warm fingers closed around Rhys’s shaft. Rhys’s hands went to pry at Jack's, and even when Jack squeezed his cock too tightly, Rhys whined and refused to let up. He shoved Jack's chest as hard as he could, over and over. "Let me _go!_ H… how the hell are you so damn _heavy?_" Rhys huffed. His hands were still on Jack's chest, but he was running out of energy to push with. "You're a _hologram! _Go screw a circuit board!" Rhys raised his arm once again and punched Jack as hard as he could. Then he yelped, pulling it away. _Ow, _that was his real hand. The wound twinged. "T-Tell me what's going on," Rhys forced out through gritted teeth.

Jack's hand was on his cheek, where Rhys had hit, and Rhys had no idea what the look on Jack's face meant. He was quiet for a moment, only Rhys's panting between them, and then Jack broke the silence with a chuckle. He sighed exaggeratedly, and dropped his hand. "Fine, okay, okay," he said. "If His Royal Highness can't wait any longer to be let into the loop."

Jack leaned away and tucked his cock back into his pants. There was still a noticeable bulge while he stood up, but at least he didn't seem to be ready to use it anymore. Rhys shakily got to his feet, too, but he couldn't even finish putting himself away before his arm began to yank him in the direction of the chair. Rhys’s socks slipped on the smooth floor. He couldn't get enough purchase to stop himself from being pulled back into the seat, but it didn't stop him from trying with all his might. Rhys's metal arm only went limp when the shackles were locked into place. It was his again, but it was too little too late.

"Okay, Rhys." Jack came closer, and even if he wasn't actively hurting Rhys, there was a hungry glint in his eyes. Predatory. "So you want to know why you can feel me?"

"Yeah, I've only been asking that over and over and _over_," Rhys gritted out, choosing to be annoyed over being scared. He pulled at his arms just to feel like he was doing something. He looked up when Jack barked a short laugh.

"It's 'cause I'm wired into your very being, kiddo."

Rhys was completely out of breath. He couldn't even struggle anymore, only watch as Jack circled him. "Just… just tell me what that means, Jack."

"It means, while you were drugged up and in dreamland, I had a few teams of experts come by and give you a custom upgrade." Jack stopped at Rhys's front and raised his hand. His fingers curled. Rhys shrank away, expecting a punch, but instead, Jack brushed his knuckles over the bruises forming around Rhys's ECHO eye. It stung a little, but the gesture was almost approaching tender. Rhys glowered. He was frightened out of his goddamn mind. "I keep improving you, don't I? Ah, well. I'm always spoiling you."

Rhys's face twitched. Jack laughed and pushed Rhys's hair out of his face. Then Jack shoved him and jostled his poor ribs, making Rhys squeak. "It was expensive to call in a bunch of nerds and have them whip something up on a strict schedule, but I'm _Handsome Jack_, I've got the cash to splurge when I want to. Especially when it's all for the sake of my very best friend Rhys, since it turns out an endoskeleton getting crammed inside him just wasn't enough. So I told them, I don't care how you do it, but you're going to find a way." Jack's fingers stroked along all the injuries he'd inflicted. Rhys winced with every brush of his fingertips against bruised skin. "You're gonna figure out how to let me beat the shit out of this little brat with my own two hands."

Rhys squinted. It was the closest he could come to looking like he had himself under control. He swallowed dryly before he spoke, but his voice still cracked. "What the hell did you do to me, you maniac?"

"Don't go and get hysterical about it," said Jack, rolling his eyes. "It was just a little brain rewiring. It's not like you haven't already had some done yourself. Thanks for that, by the way, it made things faster. Well, that and killing anyone who didn't meet their quota. It was enough trouble keeping you alive and knocked out for a week and change—think about if I'd had to keep you under for _months_. What a pain in the ass that would've been."

"Oh, yeah," Rhys snapped. "I can't imagine what a roadblock it'd be if my elaborate, supervillain revenge plan became an _inconvenience _to me."

"You learn to get over the bumps in the road, pumpkin," said Jack. "Now, I bet you're still wondering how I can do _this_." Jack gripped Rhys's cock, and Rhys's whole body jolted. Rhys scowled, breath already quickening, and closed his eyes against the wetness in them. He opened them again before Jack could hit him.

"See, the first part is experimental hard light." Jack's fingers moved in a delicate, practiced dance that made Rhys quiver. Of course someone so in love with himself was good at jacking off, Rhys wanted to say, but he opened his mouth and all that came out was a tiny whimper. "I'm not _trapped_ there anymore, but my hologram is coming from your cybernetics right now. I'm having the projectors built all over Helios, but you've got the inaugural model installed inside you. What can I say, cupcake? I just couldn't wait to get my hands on you."

Rhys's breath caught. Jack's stupid, handsome face was still leering down at him, and he grinned. His big hand moved roughly in a way that made Rhys cry out.

"The second part is what makes you really special, Rhys." Jack give Rhys another squeeze, visibly enjoying the noise that came out of him. "It didn't really matter if you came out broken, so I had them go crazy on you as a prototype. Turns out science can make some impressive gains with the right motivation. That's how I can feel you, and how you can feel me. It's a lot of complicated techno-crap, but pretty much, you're specially wired. My hologram's got a pseudo nervous system and imitation sensory organs your body will set off, and in return, your brain thinks it's reacting to another real body, not just heavy light. Professor Nakayama's research included keeping a pretty thorough catalog of what my old body was like, so don't worry. It may be entirely inside your pretty little head, but you're getting a nearly authentic Handsome Jack experience."

Rhys was getting way too close. He could feel his dick twitching in Jack's too-hot hand, but all at once that wasn't what disturbed him anymore. It _felt _like heated skin. Was it really just a bunch of complicated signals tricking his screwed up brain? When it came to the weird shit Jack had done to Rhys's head, hadn't toting around an evil tech ghost no one else could see been bad enough? "Stop," Rhys groaned, turning his head to the side. "Why—why would you do any of that? Why would you want to be able to feel someone you hate?"

Jack huffed a soft laugh. He almost sounded surprised. His hand came away from Rhys's dick, and Rhys's body sagged in relief, though he was still stupidly hard. "You really are naive," Jack repeated, that strange _whatever _in his voice again. Then he raked his hand through Rhys’s hair, rough enough to be painful. "You do take good care of your hair, though, Rhysie. Look at that. I gotta admit, even it's _you_, it's just fucking nice to be able to feel something again."

Rhys stayed quiet. Jack's mouth twitched. "The smartest thing you ever did was get those cybernetics installed," he said, tone mocking, as if to prompt something out of Rhys. "You never would've met me otherwise, and then where would you be?"

Rhys refused to look at him. "Then I wish I'd never gotten them," he spat.

"Yeah, I bet you do, now." Jack gave Rhys a condescending pat on the cheek. "Especially once you find out you're part of Helios."

Rhys's blood went cold. He locked eyes with Jack's unthinkingly. "I'm what?"

"Oh, that got your attention! C'mon, Rhys. How do you think I'm coming from your cybernetics and controlling this entire space station at the same time?" Jack's cruel smirk was almost comforting in its familiarity. His hand fell to the side of Rhys's neck, just beside his cybernetic tattoos. Rhys's skin prickled. "You're part of the system now. I had you hooked up while you were asleep, so now I don't have to waste time babysitting you to make sure you stay where I want you."

Rhys unclenched his teeth, his jaw tight. "Oh, you made a mistake doing that, Jack." Rhys was trembling. He did his best to sound confident. He was trying to convince himself as much as he was Jack. "You know what you did? You put me on the path to taking over. Now it's only a matter of time before I'm in control of this entire facility, and then I'll be able to wipe your stupid computer consciousness away for good."

"Uh-huh," said Jack, unimpressed. "You're not a good enough hacker to get past all the security you're surrounded with, so I wouldn't count on that pipe dream, sweetheart. And I'm the only one who has administrative access to you, anyway, so I'll know if you even try."

Rhys scoffed. "I don't care." He did care, very much. "So now you can see my browser history again, so what. I-I'm not scared of you, you or anything else here."

"Is that true, kiddo?" Jack smiled, but it wasn't pleasant. "Because I really think you should be."

"Of course I'm not," Rhys insisted, knowing the tremor in his voice gave him away. "I'm—I'm definitely not. Dead old has-beens like you have nothing to scare me with."

"Then you must not understand your predicament." Jack's hand wrapped around Rhys's throat, and Rhys gasped when he spread his fingers over Rhys's pulse. Jack's grip was loose, but it felt like sparks lit up where Jack's fingertips brushed over Rhys’s tattoos. Rhys sucked in another breath.

"Even if you somehow get lucky enough to get out of this room, you're not getting out of this." Jack's tone lowered into a growl, his hand squeezing tighter around Rhys's neck. That made it worse. "Believe me, pumpkin. There's nowhere in space you can go where I won't be able to find you and drag you back to me, kicking and screaming."

"Ha_,_" Rhys said, swallowing, "um, y-yeah, yeah right. I-I'll definitely—I'll definitely figure something out, though. Uhh, oh man. That is probably not good."

Jack quirked an eyebrow. "Are you getting off to this, Rhysie?"

"What? No way!" Rhys shook his head wildly, but all he managed was to move Jack's arm so his forearm pressed against Rhys’s collar. The sensors in the tattoos there lit up with the same furious sensation. "_Ah_, um, hey, wait. That feels weird too. Stop—stop doing that!"

"I mean, I can't say I mind that much_, _but you're a freakier little bottom than I expected."

"No, asshole, the tattoos! T-they're not supposed to feel like that!"

"These?" Jack had taken to tracing his fingers over the tattoos on Rhys's neck, and Rhys felt energy well up everywhere Jack's hologram made contact with the lines. He was watching Rhys intently. He kept varying the pressure of his touch. The effect was bizarre and potent, and Rhys didn't like it.

"_Hah_, um, yeah, that's super weird. Never, uh, never been touched there by someone made of electricity before. I-I don't think that's supposed to happen. Jack, stop. I said stop!"

"I love this." Electricity crackled beneath Jack's fingertips, and Rhys's breath hitched. The bastard smiled, repeating the movement, to the same result. Jack's other hand started feeling the blue marks peeking out from the bandages around Rhys's chest. Rhys shuddered. It was too much. "Hey, it does kinda buzz."

"Jack!" Rhys gasped. All the pain faded into the background. He couldn't focus on anything but the strange current running along the lines etched into his skin, everywhere Jack followed them. Rhys let out a tiny whine. "They're—_ah_—they're part of my cybernetics," he pleaded. "They're basically surface wires or, or whatever, okay, look, I don't know how they work, but y-you're going to short circuit something!"

Jack ignored him, or maybe something else entirely was happening, because Jack moved so his body pressed Rhys’s into the chair, and Rhys feared that stiff bulge he felt was exactly what he thought it was. One of Jack's hands closed around Rhys's cock, the other coming to rest on Rhys's neck. Jack shifted, and Rhys could no longer pretend not to be sure what the length digging into him was. "Shut up, cupcake," said Jack. "You're gonna love this, too."

Rhys started to protest, but then Jack began to kiss the tattoos on his collarbone as he slowly, slowly pumped Rhys's cock. Rhys's words stuttered off into a broken moan. Soon Jack's other hand groped the markings on Rhys's chest while Jack dragged his tongue along the circles on his neck. It felt so strange, strange and terrifying and incredible. Jack's tongue wasn't wet, but it was slick, and hot, and completely overwhelming. Rhys couldn't see any sparks, but he could feel them dancing along the surface of his skin, a burning trail of them following everywhere Jack went. On top of it all, Rhys’s cock was growing shamefully hard in Jack's hand. Rhys felt his cybernetics heat up in tune with all the warmth pooling in his groin, and the vision in his ECHO eye began to flicker. His robot arm spasmed in its restraint. Rhys squirmed helplessly. He tried to kick Jack away, but all that managed was to prompt Jack to press more of his weight into Rhys. Jack chuckled by his ear, breathy.

"H-Hey, Jack, j-just so you're aware, what you are doing is exactly the opposite of what I said," Rhys hissed, his voice going all over the place in volume and pitch. His chest heaved. "_Ah—ngh, _I, I'm pretty sure you said you didn't want to kill me, and if that's the case, uh, just—just for the record, you might want to know t-that you are doing a really, really, really bad job of it!"

"You're not gonna die, you idiot." Jack sounded distracted. His voice was all harsh and uneven. Rhys didn't know why his stomach fluttered. Jack moved away from Rhys's tattoos, but Rhys only had a moment of relief before Jack lifted up Rhys's legs. Aftershocks of sensation still tremored through Rhys’s ink. "Are you sure you're not a virgin?"

"I—wh—no, you're not doing that!" Rhys struggled to pull his legs away, kicking and flailing wildly. He'd bite Jack if he came close enough, he didn't care. It made no difference; if Jack was programmed with the kind of strength he was rumored to have, Rhys wasn't sure even his robot arm could have overpowered him. "Let me go, Jack!"

Jack laughed, low, dark. "No, but you can go ahead and keep squirming. It's more fun when you fight." Jack waved a hand and one of the desk drawers behind them flew open. Jack reached over to take something out of it, and he shook a little bottle of lube at Rhys with a smirk. "Probably expired, but eh. It's just you."

"D-Don't you dare, Jack...!" Rhys hadn't even finished getting the protest out before Jack already had their pants down and his slicked up fingers inside Rhys. Rhys moaned. Even though Jack had stopped touching them, electricity still arced through Rhys’s tattoos. His cybernetics were too hot, and pain was shooting through every inch of Rhys's abused body, and his cock was harder than it had ever been. Worst of all, Jack was _inside_ him, _stretching _him, and before Rhys could even come to terms with that sensation Jack shoved the full length of his cock inside Rhys.

Rhys yowled pathetically, shivering and whimpering while Jack filled him up. His hot, hard cock felt huge inside him, more than Rhys had ever taken. He'd always been too chicken to even let his exes peg him. He tried to talk, to find some way to wrest any control out of the situation, but nothing he could manage was coherent.

"Y-you—fucking—nnn, _ugh!_ Shit!"

"Oh, did that hurt?" Jack mocked. Even Jack's breath was shaking, and Rhys still wasn't sure Jack had to breathe at all. "You _are_ a little tight ass, but I'm not gonna lie to you, it feels so damn _good_, Rhys. You're the first thing I've felt in too fucking long." He rocked into Rhys, hard, fast, merciless to the noises Rhys made. "Feels goddamn great inside you. Feels _real._"

"Ffff… fuck you…"

Rhys tried to find the energy to berate him, but Jack didn't spare him a word in response. "You don't know what it's like inside that empty little head of yours," Jack hissed, squeezing Rhys's thigh too hard. Rhys's metal hand tried to move on its own and cupped the air, fingers digging into flesh that wasn't there. Every time Jack's fingers twitched against Rhys’s thigh, so did Rhys's. Jack didn't seem to notice. "There's no feeling, no tastes, no smells. There's nothing. Nothing but _you._"

"J—Jack—" Rhys didn't know what he was trying to warn Jack of, but he was starting to panic. Nothing was touching Rhys's hands, but he was beginning to feel the ghost of hot skin against his palms. "Jack, I—_hhh_—" Jack thrusted harder into Rhys, and Rhys half-gasped, half-moaned as a tight warmth squeezed around his cock. "_Ah, _I-I can _feel _that, I-I-I don't think I should be able to feel that!"

"Let me tell you something, Rhys." Jack didn't even hesitate. His gaze burned into Rhys. Rhys couldn't tell if Jack knew what was happening. His fingers clenched harder than ever into soft skin, Rhys's hand following along in sync, and Rhys realized—Jack knew. He just didn't care. "You were all I fucking had."

Rhys sobbed. The dual sensations of both their senses were engulfing him, dragging him underwater to drown. Jack must have overloaded Rhys's cybernetics, and now all the rewiring he'd done to link their senses was spiraling out of control. Rhys's sight in his ECHO eye quivered and jumped, flicking quickly between Rhys's view and Jack's. He caught glimpses of himself spread out on the chair, Jack's cock inside him, Rhys flushed and breathless and shivering with tears, his hair and clothes sticking to his skin. He shook his head to clear the vision away. Jack pounded himself into Rhys, slamming Rhys's body into the chair. Rhys's mouth opened to cry out.

"I want _you _to know what it's like," Jack said, low and guttural, and Rhys heard himself speaking too, just like before, Jack filling up Rhys's mind until Rhys's own voice was forced out of his mouth. "To have _nothing,_" they said in unison, "nothing at all but _me._"

A few more thrusts, and Jack came inside Rhys. There was no wetness, no fluids, but Rhys knew because Jack's hand wrapped around Rhys's cock and pumped him through it, forcing an orgasm out of Rhys whether or not the shared feeling was going to manage it. Rhys's back arched and he came, head spinning so much he was _certain_ he was going to faint, and then Rhys's ECHO eye went entirely offline, his systems forced into rebooting.

By the time Rhys's systems came back online, Jack had cleaned up Rhys's mess and pulled their pants back on. He'd even buttoned Rhys's shirt back up, though it was so soaked with sweat Rhys didn't know why he'd bothered. Rhys sat for a moment, breathing, wincing at all the pain still aching throughout his body. It seemed like the reboot had put his cybernetics back to normal, but Rhys didn't know what normal was going to be anymore.

Jack sat next to Rhys on a seat that wasn't really there, his arm thrown around the back of Rhys's chair. Jack was shuddering, and Rhys was _sure _he didn't need to breathe at this point, but Jack was panting, very softly. He looked over when Rhys when Rhys became animated again, eyes locking onto Rhys's. Rhys hated it, but he couldn't help but notice Jack's eye was still Rhys's favorite shade of blue.

"Nice fuck, kiddo," Jack said, shooting him a smile, one Rhys didn't think was sincere. His voice was still a bit rough. "It's… been a long time."

Rhys scowled. He wanted to yell at Jack, he wanted to punch him in the face, to pound him into hard light dust. He wanted to _hurt_ Jack for how much he'd hurt Rhys. He wanted Jack to be the one crying, helpless and drowning. Rhys couldn't do any of that, and even if he could, he didn't know what he'd do. He knew what _Jack _would have chosen, but Rhys wasn't Jack, no matter how intertwined they had become.

"Did you mean that," Rhys said. Jack's smile faltered. "That I was the only thing you had."

"Yeah, well." Jack stood up. "It doesn't matter if I did." He chucked Rhys in the chin. He started to turn away, as if he were going to walk out, like a hologram needed doors. Halfway through, he stopped. His hand shot out to grab Rhys's jaw. Fingers only Rhys could really feel dug into his skin, tilting Rhys's head up so he couldn't look away.

"Let's not forget the big lesson here, cupcake," said Jack, that same asshole smirk lighting up his face. "Now you don't have anything but me."

Rhys narrowed his eyes. He knew better than to trust someone like Jack. Even if he had before, against all his better judgement, he would never put his faith in someone capable of all this. "Get over yourself, Jack." Rhys jerked his head away. He glared at the ground, the restraints still tight against his wrists, while Jack laughed. Rhys didn't know why, but he felt betrayed.


End file.
